Multiple material iron-type golf club head

ABSTRACT

A multiple material iron-type golf club head is disclosed herein. The iron-type golf club head comprises a cast body, which may be composed of steel, and a face, which may be forged or stamped from a metal material, preferably steel, and then welded to the cast body.

CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/422,946, filed on Dec. 14, 2010.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a multiple material iron. More specifically, the present invention relates to a multiple material iron with a cast body and a forged or stamped face welded to the cast body.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Prior art multiple material irons include Callaway's Legacy Forged Iron, which was created for the Japanese market. This prior art iron included a cradle that was forged in its entirety, which is a complicated and expensive process that involves machining the forged piece to finish it for assembly. As such, there is a need for an iron that can be made inexpensively but will still have superior performance characteristics.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The multiple material iron of the present invention has a reduced number of forged components, and thus is made relatively inexpensively, but is still able to obtain the “forged feel” desired by golfers and have the performance of a cavity back cast iron.

One embodiment of the present invention is an iron-type golf club head comprising a cast body and a face, wherein the face is welded to the cast body. The body may be composed of an iron-alloy material such as steel, and more particularly 17-4 steel or high density 8.25 (SDH-825 Nickel) stainless steel. The face may be composed of a metal material, and may be forged or stamped from a sheet of the metal material. The face may be composed of steel, and more specifically a soft, 1020 carbon steel. The face may have a constant thickness or a variable thickness.

Having briefly described the present invention, the above and further objects, features and advantages thereof will be recognized by those skilled in the pertinent art from the following detailed description of the invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded, side profile view of an embodiment of the iron-type golf club head of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top profile view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-section view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As shown in FIG. 1, the multiple material iron-type golf club head 10 of the present invention comprises a cast cradle or body 20 and a face 30 that is welded to this cast body 20. The materials used to form the cast body 20 and the face 30 may include an optimal combination to create golf club head having a good feel that performs optimally and is durable.

The ability to cast the cradle without a face on the body allows for the continued used of a 360° undercut 40 in the body 20, as shown in FIG. 3. Welding the face 30 to the body 20 allows for more complex face 30 designs and also allows for different materials to be used to make the face 30. The body 20 and the face 30 may be composed of metal materials such as iron alloys, titanium, titanium alloys, magnesium, tungsten, nickel alloys, and composite. In one embodiment, the body 20 is composed of a material including nickel. In another embodiment, the body 20 is composed of 17-4 steel.

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the body 20 is cast from a high density metal, specifically SDH-825 Nickel stainless steel, and the face 30 is composed of a soft steel material, specifically 1020 carbon steel, and then welded to the body 20. The face 30 may be stamped from a plate of steel material, but in the preferred embodiment the face 30 is forged to allow for the face 30 to have different face thickness designs, including, but not limited to, elliptical thickness rings. The face 30 of the preferred embodiment further includes 20 degree v-shaped grooves. Once the golf club head 10 is assembled, it can be tested for performance and feel.

The golf club head 10 of the present invention may include variable face thickness, such as the thickness patterns disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos., 5,163,682, 5,318,300, 5,474,296, 5,830,084, 5,971,868, 6,007,432, 6,338,683, 6,354,962, 6,368,234, 6,398,666, 6,413,169, 6,428,426, 6,435,977, 6,623,377, 6,997,821, 7,014,570, 7,101,289, 7,137,907, 7,144,334, 7,258,626, 7,422,528, 7,448,960, 7,713,140, and 8,012,041, the disclosure of each of which is incorporated in its entirety herein.

From the foregoing it is believed that those skilled in the pertinent art will recognize the meritorious advancement of this invention and will readily understand that while the present invention has been described in association with a preferred embodiment thereof, and other embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings, numerous changes, modifications and substitutions of equivalents may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention which is intended to be unlimited by the foregoing except as may appear in the following appended claims. Therefore, the embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined in the following appended claims. 

1. An iron-type golf club head comprising: a cast body composed of an iron-alloy material; and a face composed of a steel material, wherein the face is welded to the cast body.
 2. The iron-type golf club head of claim 2, wherein the face is forged.
 3. The iron-type golf club head of claim 2, wherein the face is stamped from the steel material.
 4. The iron-type golf club head of claim 1, wherein the cast body is composed of 17-4 steel.
 5. The iron-type golf club head of claim 1, wherein the cast body is composed of SDH-825 Nickel stainless steel.
 6. The iron-type golf club head of claim 1, wherein the face is composed of 1020 carbon steel.
 7. The iron-type golf club head of claim 1, wherein the face has a constant thickness.
 8. The iron-type golf club head of claim 1, wherein the face has variable thickness. 